The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 856 Tibetan Sneak Attack
The Tibetan army's commander was named Yu Zebu, a newly emerging nobleman. In fact, this Tibetan invasion to the north was very risky. The distribution of interests within Tibet was unfair, with the new nobleman making up a larger proportion, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among the old nobleman. The sense of independence in various places strengthened, and various conflicts began to intensify.

Of course, the fundamental reason was that the strict blockade imposed by the Sui Dynasty on Tibet prevented Tibet from obtaining various strategic resources from the Sui Dynasty, and the severe lack of resources would inevitably lead to problems in the allocation of existing resources.

To resolve the current predicament, the Tibetan king, Lunzan Suo, decided to invade the Heyuan region. One reason was to divert internal conflicts and draw everyone's attention outward. Another reason was to obtain new resources, compensate the old nobles, and quell their discontent. A third reason was also to break the blockade imposed by the Sui Dynasty.

The Tibetan army's goal was to occupy the Sui Dynasty's Heyuan and Xihai prefectures, pushing the border to the Chiling line, so that they would be fully connected with the Sui Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty would no longer be able to blockade them.

Lun Zansuo mobilized 30,000 troops for a northern expedition, and attacking Qima Naval City was just an appetizer. The commander-in-chief, Yu Zebu, was well aware of the situation of the city, which only had 200 men. He sent 2,000 men, which would be enough to take down the city.

As Chen Dequan watched the approaching enemy army in a dark mass, he felt something was amiss. How could Tibet send two or three thousand men to meet the merchants, just for a mere thirty thousand arrows? But he had no time to think about it now; war was about to break out.

"General, the enemy has reached within 150 paces!"

Chen Dequan gritted his teeth and said, "Just bear with it a little longer, fire at 100 paces!"

The military city was equipped with fifty-step heavy crossbows with arrows and thunderbolts, operated by one hundred soldiers, as well as ten small catapults operated by thirty people, and the last seventy soldiers used ordinary crossbows.

The Tibetan army gradually approached, carrying twenty ladders. When they were about 120 paces away, the Tibetan army suddenly let out a shout and charged towards the city.

"Launch!" Chen Dequan gave the order.

Fifty soldiers lit the fuses, and when the fuses burned to the red line, arrow-shaped mines were launched. The arrow-shaped mines were aimed at the enemy troops behind them, while small catapults launched ten small iron fire mines with a range of about a hundred paces, aimed at the Tibetan army in front.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Fire bombs exploded in the crowd, flashing flames and billowing smoke. Countless dense poison nails shot out in all directions, causing the Tibetan soldiers to scream and howl in agony.

Immediately afterwards, the Sui army launched a second volley of arrows and grenades. The Tibetan soldiers, realizing what was happening, turned and fled. At this time, Tibet had not yet established a sound system of rewards and punishments, and the soldiers were not as fiercely determined to fight to the death as they would later.

The Tibetans abandoned their troops, leaving behind a trail of corpses, and fled in panic. During their escape, the poison continued to take effect, causing them to collapse. In just one attack that had not yet been launched, the Tibetan army suffered a devastating blow. Of the two thousand soldiers, only twelve hundred survived when they returned to the Grand Canyon.

The commander-in-chief, Yu Zebu, was also terrified. The Sui army's firearms were far beyond his comprehension. He dared not fight any longer and hurriedly sent someone back to the capital to report to the Zanpu about the Sui army's terrifying weapons.

At the same time, You Junda, the commander of the Sui army in Longyou, also sent a message to the court by express courier.

On the official road west of Luoyang, three cavalrymen were galloping at full speed. The lead cavalryman, carrying a letter tube wrapped in yellow silk, kept shouting, "Urgent message! Make way ahead!"

The official road from Luoyang to Chang'an was rebuilt, with roads opened up through mountains and bridges built over rivers. It took two years to build a straight road through the Xiaohan Pass, and a post station was built every fifty li. Starting from Chang'an, after changing horses frequently, it only took two days to reach Luoyang.

Three cavalrymen galloped into Luoyang City, right into the imperial city. Near the imperial city gate was the liaison point of the six ministries of the Ministry of Personnel, which dealt with the various local memorial offices and handled urgent messages delivered by messengers.

Upon receiving the urgent letter, the officials dared not delay and immediately forwarded it to the Privy Council. Before long, the express mail arrived at the desk of Privy Councilor Zhang Liang.

Inside the Imperial Study, Xiao Xia was reviewing memorials as usual when a guard reported, "Your Majesty, the Privy Councilor urgently requests an audience!"

Xiao Xia nodded, "Granted!"

"Your Majesty summons Magistrate Zhang to an audience!" Soon, Zhang Liang hurriedly entered the imperial study, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"

"What urgent matter is it, Zhang Qing?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile, putting down her pen.

"Your Majesty, please look at this!"

Zhang Liang presented You Junda's urgent letter to the emperor, saying, "Your humble servant has just received an urgent report from Heyuan County."

Xiao Xia opened the express letter and read it once. His brows furrowed slightly. Two thousand Tibetans had invaded Qima Naval City in Heyuan County, but were defeated by two hundred garrison soldiers.

This was indeed a major event. Two thousand Tibetans could not have happened by chance. Xiao Xia walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and ordered his guards, "Bring out all the sand tables around Tibet!"

Xiao Xia and Zhang Liang arrived at the staff room, where a sand table measuring 21 feet in length and width had already been assembled.

Xiao Xia quickly found the Seven Horses Naval City. Thirty miles to the south was the Jishi Mountain Grand Canyon, and Jishi Mountain was the border between the Sui Dynasty and Tibet.

Xiao Xia pointed to the Jishishan Grand Canyon and said, "The next step is to build a military city in the Grand Canyon, so that the Tibetan army will not have any chance to set foot in Heyuan County."

"Your Majesty, the Tibetan army's invasion of Heyuan this time is likely not a friendly move!"

Xiao Xia nodded. "Everything should have signs. The sudden invasion of Heyuan by the Tibetans could be either a counterattack against our blockade or they have internal problems and want to use external war to resolve internal conflicts. And there are more than just two thousand people."

Zhang Liang bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is also an opportunity to strike a heavy blow against Tibet and make them dare not overstep their bounds for decades!"

Xiao Xia pondered for a moment, then said to Chu Suiliang beside him, "Summon the Council of State for a meeting!"

Although Xiao Xia had decided to strike at Tibet, he still needed to consult with the Council of State Affairs to transform his personal decision into a court decision, and then into a national decision.

Soon, the Council of State unanimously decided to send 30,000 troops to Longyou and approved the Xihai River Source Army to launch an attack across the border against the Tibetan army.

At this time, 30,000 Tibetan troops had broken out of the Jishishan Grand Canyon. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Dequan immediately led his troops to retreat to Chishui County.

The Tubo Commandery captured Qima Naval City and continued its advance towards Chishui County.

Heyuan Prefecture had two counties, Chishui County and Jishi County. Chishui County was the seat of the prefectural government and was a large county with 3,000 Han Chinese households who had migrated from Sichuan and Chongqing. Jishi County also had 2,000 Han Chinese. However, Jishi County was located on the east bank of the Yellow River, making it difficult for the Tibetan army to attack. Therefore, Chishui County became the primary target of the Tibetan army.

Currently, there are 4,000 Sui soldiers in Chishui County, including 1,000 soldiers who withdrew from five garrison cities. The city gates are tightly closed, and the 4,000 troops are on high alert.

At the same time, 10,000 cavalrymen from Hehuang arrived at Xihai County, bringing the total strength of Xihai Commandery to 20,000, while 30,000 troops were coming from Guanzhong to support Hehuang.

With no worries about the rear, You Junda, the governor of Xihai, led 20,000 cavalrymen at full speed toward the source of the river.

(End of this chapter)